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Building the Future

In 2017, Washington University in St. Louis began one of the most significant capital projects in the recent history of the Danforth Campus: transformation of the east end. The comprehensive plan includes new academic facilities, to support the University's core missions of teaching and research, and expansive green space that better connects academic programs and provides a more inviting, relaxed gathering place for the University community and visitors to campus.

Anabeth and John Weil Hall

Weil Hall will be a symbol of the University's commitment to creativity in the 21st century and identify the Sam Fox School as a leader in design practice and education. This new front door to the Sam Fox School will express the important roles for art, architecture, and design in a research university and will help guide the future of these disciplines.

Below we are featuring renderings and descriptions of several new spaces in Weil Hall; please check back for updates.

Weil Hall Commons

This 2,400-square-foot entry hall will be a flexible hub for the entire Sam Fox School, accommodating public events, exhibitions, critiques, and socializing. With an open central staircase and a transparent glass wall overlooking the relocated Steinberg Weil Sculpture Garden and Ann and Andrew Tisch Park, the Commons will be a dynamic space for organized and incidental interactions.

These open-concept studios will accommodate 144 graduate students on the north side of the second and third floors of Anabeth and John Weil Hall. They will flank a central courtyard, allowing natural light to suffuse the space while facilitating connections across disciplines. Studios will also feature group worktables and multiple pinup and critique spaces to better facilitate collaboration.

Across the south side of Weil Hall's second and third floors, 30 individual, 180-square-foot studios will support graduate art students' work across media while providing direct access to the facilities in Walker and Bixby Halls, plus the resources of the Kemper Art Museum and Kenneth and Nancy Kranzberg Art & Architecture Library. Installation spaces throughout the studios will allow students to convene for critiques, student-curated exhibitions, and impromptu gatherings.

This 2,600-square-foot studio space will be the center of design activity in Weil Hall. The flexible and open space will accommodate 30 students, with pinup/critique spaces and a printing hub. Overlooking Weil Hall's west garden, this studio will be a place for innovative work in communication design, human-centered design, design thinking, and data visualization.

This 3,000-square-foot central space will be both the physical and conceptual heart of Weil Hall. Here, students and faculty can execute complex projects using state-of-the-art tools like the CNC mill, laser cutters, and 3-D printers. The large, open workspace will connect to an outdoor working court through an oversized door.

This 2,500-square-foot open space in the center of Weil Hall will create a luminous, two-story expanse between the second and third floors, visually connecting the graduate studios across disciplines. The court's flexibility will be suitable for a wide range of programmatic needs, from fabricating large-scale sculpture to hosting special events.

Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum Expansion

An expansion on the north side of the Kemper Art Museum will create a striking new façade composed of 30-foot-tall pleated stainless steel panels that will reflect the surrounding landscape, sky, and buildings. This iconic surface will serve as a beacon, drawing visitors from both the Danforth Campus and beyond. The new entrance will feature a welcoming, light-filled room that provides additional space for an array of the Museum’s renowned programs.

The new James M. Kemper Gallery will be a state-of-the-art 2,700-square-foot exhibition space that allows the Museum to showcase a larger portion of its world-class collection. In addition, the Museum’s Florence Steinberg Weil Sculpture Garden—which includes outdoor sculpture by such prominent artists as Alexander Calder and Auguste Rodin —will be relocated to a beautiful setting north of Weil Hall.

Note: The transformation of the east end of Washington University's Danforth Campus affects access to the Museum. Further details about parking, including a map, are available here>>

KieranTimberlake

KieranTimberlake is the architecture firm for both Anabeth and John Weil Hall and the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum expansion. The Philadelphia-based firm has designed many significant higher education projects; among them are the Sculpture Building and School of Art Gallery at Yale University (2007), winner of an AIA Top Ten Green award, and the Brockman Hall for Physics at Rice University (2011), winner of the 2015 AIA Institute Honor Award. Current commissions include an addition and renovation to the School of Architecture at Tulane University and the design of the new United States Embassy in London. A strong research practice within the firm allows for an innovative approach to reducing the environmental impact of its projects, from the development of custom modeling software to studies that mitigate the adverse outcomes from bird and building conflicts. For more information, visit the firm's website.

Classroom Lessons

Graduate architecture students in the Sam Fox School have an invaluable learning experience right outside their door: They are learning lessons in construction during the East End Transformation Project. Listen to remarks from students Nitish Bhat, Chen Hu, and Amanda Malone, along with Valerie Tswuntsone Greer, professor of practice and coordinator of graduate architecture, in this video.